Millions of Indians are mourning the demise of beloved former President, Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam. Did you know that United Nations Organization (U.N.O) had declared his birthday (October 15th) as “World Students Day“. It was back in 2010 that United Nations had decided to honour this great man. [source]

It is an honour that the man rightly deserves. He wasn’t just the people’s president, but an inspirational personality who also was a teacher, scientist, author, professor and policy-maker [Read: Indian Education Framework Needs to Change Completely: Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam]. Despite having such great qualities, the most endearing feature of his personality was his simplicity.

Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 in Rameshwaram, Madras Presidency, British India. He worked with DRDO and ISRO as an aeronautical engineer. Famously known as Missile Man of India, Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam played major role in India’s Ballistic Missiles development. He also played a vital part in the 1998 when India tested its nuclear weapons. From 2002 to 2007, he served term as the 11th President of India.

This gem of a man has also authored numerous books, the most popular of them being Wings of Fire, India 2020 and Ignited Minds.

Besides these roles, he was an inspiration to students and youth of the country. Perhaps rightly, his last conscious moments was spent in front of students at IIM Shillong. His was a life largely spent learning and teaching. United Nations Organization (U.N.O) couldn’t have honoured the great man in a better way. During his lifetime, the Indian government had honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1981, the Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and the Bharat Ratna in 1997 for his work with ISRO and DRDO and his role as a scientific advisor to the Indian government.